Kingdom Hearts: A Light In The Darkness
by SycoraxRock
Summary: Set after Dream Drop Distance. Xehanort has begun to make his move. Sora, Riku, Kairi and everyone else must band together to save the worlds from destruction. But Xehanort has brought allies of his own, and they are not nice people... Main Pairing: Sora/Kairi, and maybe others if I think of any. Uses mostly Disney and Square Enix characters, but I might slip in some others...
1. Prologue

Kingdom Hearts: A Light in the Darkness

**Hi! So, this is my first story. I'm not sure how good it is, but it's something that I've been thinking about for a long time, so I'm going to give it a try. Hopefully it's good!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, The World Ends With You, any Disney movie or TV Show, etc.**

Prologue

**Location: Unknown**

_Eight hooded figures sat around a table, each regarding the others with interest. Suddenly, there was a gust of wind, and a ninth teleported into their midst. A bald old man with a short beard. Master Xehanort._

_ "Well?" asked one of the figures, a thin man with an air of impatience around him. "How did it go?"_

_ "Shouldn't you know the answer to that?" asked Xehanort with a sly grin as he sat down at the end of the table._

_ "If I did, I wouldn't be asking you, would I?" the thin man responded._

_ "I'm afraid the boy won't be joining us today," said Xehanort. "His friends were able to rescue him before I could make him ours."_

_ "I think I remember that," said another of the figures, this one a young woman who looked like she was deep in thought. "It's all…fuzzy."_

_ "That would be the post time-travel memory loss. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do about that." _

_ The woman scowled. "We could always find another way to time travel. I think I heard that that lackey of Maleficent's used some sort of door to-"_

_ "Hold on. Someone's missing. Where's the rabbit?" said a large man who was covered from head to toe in armor, and the only one not wearing a hood._

_ Xehanort frowned. "He has his own matters to attend to. Actually, I'd prefer if we kept him out of the loop for the most part. He may find some of our activities…objectionable."_

_ "If that is the case, then I don't know why you're even bothering to associate with him!" the thin man suddenly shouted. "I'm beginning to wonder what you've done to get us to trust you to lead-"_

BANG!

_Nobody at the table flinched, although the thin man looked up in surprise. Another of the hooded figures had a gun pointed in his direction. He had fired, but only as a warning, purposefully missing the man. The two glared at each other, and the thin man could make out the shape of a gas mask underneath the other's hood._

_ The masked man lowered his gun, and said, with a hint of an accent, "Xehanort has done us a great service, my friend. You would do well to listen to him," He turned to Xehanort and said, "Please continue, sir."_

_ Xehanort raised an eyebrow and said, "Thank you. Now then, I believe that you all know which Keybearer you've been assigned to."_

_ Everyone nodded, and the woman who the armored man had interrupted earlier spoke up. "Speaking of which, that red-headed man – what was his name again?"_

_ "Lea?"_

_ "Yes, him. I can sense him. He's gained a Keyblade of his own."_

_ Xehanort's eyes narrowed. "Has he?"_

_ "Don't tell me that you didn't know!"_

_ "I did sense something different about him. Still, if he does have the Keyblade, then why didn't he use it when he rescued the boy?"_

_ The woman shrugged. "Perhaps he didn't know how to at the time. Regardless, he has one now. Is this going to be a problem?" she asked._

_ Xehanort smiled. "No. While Lea always has been something of a wild card, he's also easily manipulated if one has proper leverage. And I assure you, that's one thing we have in abundance."_

_ The thin man's eyes widened, and he too began to grin. "And where is dear Saix, if I may ask?"_

_ "With Xigbar," Xehanort responded. "They are currently performing one last check up on our allies, some of whom will be coming here to stay with us."_

_ "Pity," the masked man said. "I rather liked having the place to ourselves. And what of your other selves; the Heartless and the Nobody, to be precise?"_

_ "They will join us eventually," said Xehanort. "But for now, we will have to make do without them."_

_ "Now, the time for scheming in the shadows is over. We've had a year to prepare for this, and I'm quite confident of our chances for success. The time has not yet come for all-out war. We must continue to operate discreetly for the time being. However, our activities will no doubt draw the attention of our enemies, and it is likely that you will each be facing your counterparts very soon. I don't want them dead just yet, so avoid unleashing your full strength. When you can kill them, I'll know."_

_ When Xehanort finished speaking, the eight began to applaud, some more sincerely than others. Once they had ceased, one of the figures, who had spent the whole meeting fidgeting in her seat, spoke up. "Sooo, Norty, were you planning on explaining the _whole_ plan right now, because I've really gotta go."_

_ Xehanort grimaced. _If I have to put up with her the whole time, I swear…

_Aloud, he said, "Firstly, don't call me that again. Second, no, I'm finished. You can go."_

_The figure gave a lazy salute as she got out of her seat. "Yes sir!"_

_ "However," Xehanort continued, and at this she groaned loudly. "I would advise you to be cautious. Your counterpart has proven to be a powerful adversary. I attempted to make him one of my vessels, but so far I have failed. I do not believe that he can be turned to our side now."_

_ The girl paused to consider this, then gave a mock bow. "Don't worry, sir," she said. Raising her head, she gave a wide grin. Her eyes briefly flashed red. _"He'll pay for his defiance in blood!"

_"Remember what I said about not killing him right away."_

_ "Will do." she replied, and with that she vanished into thin air._

_ The large armored man and the man with the gas mask both got to their feet. _

_ "Mine doesn't even have a Keyblade," said the masked man. _

_ The armored man scoffed. "Is that all? From the looks of the records, _mine_ doesn't even _exist_."_

_ "Trust me," said Xehanort. "Soon, neither of those will be an issue."_

_ "Perhaps sooner than you think," said the thin man, chuckling. The other two departed without another word._

_ At this point, only three of those in attendance had not yet spoken. They rose from their seats, and Xehanort observed that they were all the exact same height, although each of them wore different colored robes. _

_ "We are…interested in ours," one of them said. "We sense something in him that we sense in ourselves." At this, the other two nodded._

_ The thin man looked at them briefly, and then made a dismissive gesture. "Return to the Castle," he said. "I will join you there shortly."_

_ The three bowed. One of them opened up a Dark Corridor, and they filed in._

_ "I swear," the thin man said. "Next time he shoots at me-"_

_ "You'll deserve it," the woman replied._

_ "Deserve it? I've done nothing to him. Why on earth does he hate me so much?"_

_ At this she rolled her eyes. "I believe that you have something that needs to be done?"_

_ "I suppose that you're right," the thin man said. "That poor girl…she doesn't suspect a thing." Laughing quietly to himself, he walked through the dark corridor. It closed behind him._

_ "Where is he now?" Xehanort asked the woman. She snapped her fingers, and they both turned to face the back wall. On it, a large, room-length mirror shimmered. An image appeared of the one they were searching for._

_ "Traverse Town," the woman replied. "Everything is ready."_

_ "We are about to fire the first shot of the Second Keyblade War," said Xehanort. "We'd better make it count."_

_ The woman snapped her fingers again, and the mirror's image changed again. _

_ "This is Malfria," she said to the soldiers depicted in the glass. "Prepare to engage the Keyblade Master."_

**And that's the beginning of the story! Who are these mysterious new characters? Why are they working with Xehanort? I suppose we'll find out soon enough. **

**Review please!**


	2. Ambush In Traverse Town

**Ok, before I continue, I should probably mention that while I'm going to try to stick close to the events of Dream Drop Distance the best I can, I may not be 100% faithful as far as continuity goes; I'm a little fuzzy on certain details. I'm sure that I'm not the only one who was confused by the plot of that game. **** Now then, let's get started!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, The World Ends With You, any Disney movie or TV Show, etc.**

Act I: Opening Moves

Chapter 1: Ambush in Traverse Town

Sora walked through the streets of Traverse Town. It was eerily quiet, which made sense, seeing as there was no one left in the town but him.

"It's weird," Sora said to himself. "I'm so used to seeing other people around here. It feels a lot bigger when you're the only one."

He had gone to the sleeping version of the town to visit the Dream Eaters that he had met during his and Riku's quest to unlock the Keyholes of Sleep. There were a lot them, probably several dozen. However, in the end, he couldn't take them with him, so he reluctantly had to say goodbye. One thing that continued to trouble him, however, was the absence of some other friends that he had made during his last trip to the town.

_Where were Neku, Joshua and the others? _Sora wondered as he strolled through the Second District. _Did they leave this world after I defeated that Nightmare? Did they make it home, or did they… _

Sora remembered what Neku had told him about the Reaper's Game: complete the assigned task before the timer runs out, or be erased.

"I don't know why anyone would want to play a game like that," he muttered. "And what's a "Reaper", anyway?"

"Well," Sora said with a smile, "I'm sure they have a good reason, but it's not a game I'll be playing anytime soon!"

XXX

"_Does he always talk to himself like this?"_

"_I don't spend _that _much time spying on these people."_

"…_How much time _do _you spend spying on them?"_

"_Irrelevant."_

"_If you say so. Troops! Prepare to engage the enemy!"_

"_YES SIR!"_

XXX

"Hellooooo!" Sora called out.

No response.

"Heeellllooooooo!"

Sora stopped shouting. "I don't know why I'm even doing this. I mean, it's not like there's anyone else here."

Suddenly he heard a scraping noise along the ground, and then he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. Before he even had time to think, he summoned his Keyblade and slashed through the air. The Shadow that had attacked him quickly disintegrated.

"I just _had _to say it!"

More Shadows began to spring up around him, along with Soldiers and Yellow Operas.

"Well, this brings back memories," said Sora. "Bring it on!"

The Heartless charged, and Sora met them head on. The Shadows were dispatched as easily as the first, with the last few being taken out in one stroke. The Operas attempted to keep him pinned down with lightning attacks, but Sora leaped into the air. He hit the wall, and jumped off it, using the momentum to meet the Operas in midair. By the time Sora hit the ground, they too had been dealt with.

"That's right," Sora boasted. "This Keyblade Wielder's not too old to learn new tricks!"

_"Not too old to learn new tricks?" _said a voice in his head. _You're what, fifteen, sixteen?_

"Wait, who the – Roxas?" asked Sora in disbelief.

In all the time that the Nobody had been inside his heart, he hadn't said a word to him. Indeed, sometimes Sora forgot that he was in there at all. Sometimes there would be a feeling, an emotion that didn't fit the circumstances, but they had never actually spoken. Except…

A lot of what happened during the last trip to the Organization's headquarters was still foggy in his head. This was in part due to the nature of the dream worlds, and also due the Organization screwing with his head. Still, he definitely remembered Roxas, and they had spoken. He had shown him something, something painful…

The Soldier Heartless surrounded him, attempted to cut off his escape. But Sora was ready; his Keyblade began to glow with power.

_**Ars Arcanum**_

Sora unleashed a series of powerful slashes, thirteen in all. Within in seconds, the Soldiers were no more. He surveyed the area.

"Well, I guess that's all of th-"

Suddenly a large whip-like object struck from behind, sending him sprawling to the ground. As he struggled to get to his feet, he fall a number of Dusks descending from the rooftops.

"Nobodies too?" As Sora asked this, a number of Large Body Heartless spawned both in front and behind him, trapping him in the Second District Courtyard. The Dusks quickly took up positions on the upper levels. He was surrounded.

Sora got ready for a fight, but suddenly both the Heartless and the Nobodies stopped, as if they were listening to something. After a moment, they suddenly vanished.

_If the Heartless and the Nobodies are working together, _Sora thought, _then that's gotta mean that Xehanort is behind this!_

But Sora did not have long to ponder this possibility, as at that moment a voice cried out, "There he is!"

Soldiers poured out of a nearby alleyway. Not Heartless Soldiers; these looked human, albeit covered head to toe in what look like lightweight, almost futuristic-looking armor, and carrying deadly looking guns.

"There's the Keyblade Master!" the same soldier shouted.

"Um, actually," Sora attempted to explain, "I'm not exactly a Keyblade Master; you see, I didn't pass the exam. My friend Riku, though, he's a-"

The soldiers opened fire, and Sora barely had to dodge before lasers impacted where he had been standing.

"Okay!" Sora shouted back. "I get it! Honest mistake! I thought I'd be nice and help! My bad!"

The soldiers move to surround him, and Sora knew that there was nowhere for him to run. But at that moment, he felt something begin to stir in his heart. Suddenly there was a burst of light, and emerging from was…

"Meow Wow?!"

The fat Dream Eater jumped up at Sora and attempted to lick his face. Sora tried to push it down. "Um, look, I'm glad you're here, but now really isn't the time!"

Sora, wondering why the soldiers hadn't shot him yet, turned to face them. As it turned out, they were just as surprised as he was, staring dumbfounded at the blue cat/dog/gerbil that cat just appeared in front of them. However, they quickly got over it.

"Set lasers to stun…shoot them both!" Shouted what Sora took to be the commander, as several Shadow Heartless appeared to tear the Keybearer limb from limb.

At that moment, Meow Wow began to breathe in. The Heartless flew into its gaping maw, and the soldiers were shocked to see their guns do the same. The Spirit then proceeded to grow to three times its normal size. Sora, remember this technique from the Dream Worlds, jumped on its back. Together, they launched themselves at the soldiers.

You might assume that a squad of trained soldiers armed with laser rifles would be more than a match for a boy armed with a giant key, riding a fat, blue cat-creature.

…

You'd be wrong.

XXX

"_WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"_

_ Malfria was staring at the mirror in shock. Xehanort didn't have to be able to see her face to know that she was enraged. _

_ Mainly because she was shouting._

_ "I mean _seriously_? I've spent months training those soldiers, and they're defeated by the flopping of some overgrown house cat?!"_

_ "It's called a Dream Eater," Xehanort replied coolly._

_ "I don't care what it's called!" Malfria shouted as she turned towards him. "He's making us look like a bunch of fools! Without a certain degree of credibility, we can hardly hope to-"_

_ At that moment, a Dark Corridor opened up nearby, and out stepped a familiar face._

_ "Well, what do we have here?" said Xigbar, walking over to where the other two stood. "Is the big, scary Malfria throwing a temper tantrum?"_

_ Malfria chose that moment to calm down. "…No," she said. "I'm fine. I was just…surprised by the sheer stupidity of the past two minutes." She took a deep breath, and then smiled. "I'm ready to resume command."_

_ "Well, ain't that just peachy," Said Xigbar. "Now if you'll excuse me…"_

_ "Hold on, Xigbar," said Master Xehanort. "I believe that your assistance is required in Traverse Town."_

_ Xigbar glanced at the mirror. "You've gotta be kidding me! No way! As if!"_

_ Xehanort glared at him. _

"_Okay, fine, I'm going, I'm going."_

XXX

"Retreat!" the commander cried out. "Retrea-! "

Several energy bullets rained down, striking Meow Wow and sending it and Sora tumbling.

"Never mind."

Meow Wow cried out and vanished.

"Well, looks like that cat's time is up."

Sora looked up as Xigbar leapt down from the roof of a nearby building. He landed lightly on his feet and brandished his arrowguns. All around him, soldiers laying groaning in pain.

"Don't worry, I doubt it's dead. It probably just returned to wherever it came from." Xigbar grinned menacingly. "You, on the other hand, I expected to be out of commission for a lot longer. As cliché as it sounds, people _have _died of a broken heart, you know."

Sora grinned as he got up. "Maybe I'm stronger than you think I am."

"Maybe," said Xigbar. "Probably. But right now, kiddo, your time is up."

Sora summoned his Keyblade. "I don't think so."

"Oh, so the kid thinks he's gonna walk outta this one. As if!"

Sniper Nobodies began teleporting in, clinging to the walls of the nearby buildings. The all leveled their weapons at Sora.

Xigbar smirked as he raised one of his own arrowguns. "Face it, kid. Your latest big adventure was over before it even began."

XXX

"_Finally!" said Malfria. "Some genuine competence around here!"_

**To Be Continued**

**Next Time: Sora vs. Xigbar! Kairi's Training! Trouble in Radiant Garden!**

**Well, that was kind of silly. I mean, I wanted to include the Dream Eaters in the plot somehow after I saw the ending of 3D, but there really isn't a way to take Meow Wow seriously, is there? I'll probably have less of him in the future. Don't worry, the Dream Eaters won't take over the plot; they're just one of many groups with a role to play. For that matter, yes, that bit with Ars Arcanum is how I'm planning on doing Limit Breaks, Special Attacks and that sort of thing. Maybe not every time, though. I hope that works!**

**Also, thanks to **darkhunter999** for giving my story its first review! To answer your question, I actually was planning on including a world based on that in the first place, although we probably won't get there for a while! I actually have something important lined up for that world… *laughs evilly***

**Anyway, thanks for reading, and please remember to review!**


	3. Training and Scheming

**Alright, sorry if this has taken me a while to update! I've been pretty busy with school. Fortunately, I'll be on break very soon, so I'll probably get more chapters out there in the following month or so. **

**Also, I should probably bring up that this is the **_**real **_**Traverse Town, and I'm assuming that the one seen at the very end of 3D was the one in the Realm of Sleep.**

**And with that out of the way, let us begin! **

**Edit: I modified Yen Sid's explanation of Anti Form a little for clarity's sake. Perhaps later, if there's an appropriate time, I'll explain in more detail.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, The World Ends With You, any Disney movie or TV Show, etc.**

Chapter 2: Training and Scheming

"_Reflega_!" Sora shouted. A shield of light surrounded him, the Nobodies' energy bolts impacting harmlessly against it. As soon as it disappeared, Sora leapt up to the upper level of the street and ran toward the First District.

"Where do you think _you're _going?" Xigbar shouted after him. "You can run all you like, but there's nowhere to run _to_!"

Sora stopped to catch his breath. _How am I going to get out of here?_ He thought. _I was planning on contacting the others, but I can't do that with these guys bearing down on me!_

Hearing a noise behind him, Sora turned around to see several Dusks flying at him through the door from the Second District. He cut them down the second that they got close to him, but more kept coming.

As Sora fought the Dusks, Xigbar teleported onto a nearby rooftop. He combined his arrowguns into a sniper rifle, and took aim at Sora. "C'mon," he said. "I don't wanna hurt ya, I just wanna knock you out for a bit." He then grinned a little. "Aw, who am I kidding? It'll still hurt a lot!"

Sora was squarely in his crosshairs. "And there we-"

Something slammed into him from behind, knocking him to the ground below. Sora turned around to face the noise.

"Sora, you're alright!" Standing over Xigbar's crumbled form was King Mickey.

"Your Majesty!" Sora cried out. Mickey ran over to him. "Can you lend me a hand?"

"Gosh," said Mickey. "What are friends for?"

As Sora and Mickey work together to defeat the Dusks, Xigbar struggled to his feet.

_Well, _he thought to himself, _that didn't work too well. _

_ I agree, _said Xehanort's voice inside his head. _It would be best to retreat for now._

_ Don't worry about the soldiers, _chimed in Malfria. _I'll take care of them._

Xigbar sighed with relief. _Wouldn't have it any other way. To be honest, I've lost pretty much every time I've gone up against a Keyblade Wielder. Two at a time is probably more than we can handle._

With that, Xigbar summoned a Dark Corridor and slipped through. In the Second District Courtyard, darkness enveloped the other soldiers, transporting back along with him. As they left, Xehanort's voice echoed in Xigbar's mind.

_ That will soon change._

XXX

Sora dismissed his Keyblade and turned towards Mickey.

"It's good to see you, Your Majesty."

"Gosh, Sora, I've told you, you don't have to call me that," Mickey said with a smile.

"Sorry, Your Majes – I mean Mickey!" Sora corrected himself quickly.

"It's alright. So, that guy attacked you, huh?"

"Yeah," Sora said. "There were Heartless, Nobodies and – oh yeah, these soldiers. I think that they were regular people!"

"Were they?" said Mickey. A troubled looked passed over his face. "That's a bit worrying, now that I think about it. We'd better head back and tell Master Yen Sid about what happened."

"Okay then, let's go!" said Sora excitedly. Then he remembered something. "Hey, how'd you know to come here anyway?"

Mickey's face brightened up at this question. "Well, you see…"

XXX

**Yen Sid's Tower, Some Time Earlier**

"That's it Kairi, you can do it!"

Mickey continued to shout encouragement from the sidelines as Kairi sparred with Riku just outside of the Tower. Since they had returned from the Islands, Yen Sid had instructed Riku to help teach her the basics. Although she had only recently begun her training, she was a fast learner, and Mickey could see that she had a lot of potential.

Donald, on the other hand, was more critical. "YOU CALL _THAT _A STRIKE?" he shouted. MY GRANDMA CAN HIT HARDER THAN YOU CAN!"

"I don't want to _hurt _him!" Kairi shouted back at him, parrying a blow from Riku as she did so.

"Kairi, don't worry about it, I'll be fine," said Riku, as he blocked another of Kairi's attacks. "And Donald, seriously, drop the drill sergeant routine! It's really getting old!"

Donald abruptly stopped shouting. "Sorry," he said, lowering his head nervously.

"Garwsh, Donald," said Goofy. "Do ya really gotta be like that? I mean, she's just starting out."

"Well," Donald said huffily. "She's gotta learn sometime, right?"

Mickey turned to Yen Sid. "What do you think, Master?" he asked him. "Do you think she has what it takes?"

The old wizard stroke his beard and nodded. "It would appear so, but at the moment she is strictly a beginner. It may take some time before she is on Sora and Riku's level."

"Of course," he added after a moment of thought. "They never had any formal training before they came to me, and _they _were able to successfully defeat the Heartless and the Organization, so it's always possible that she will surpass those expectations. What's more important is that she – no, that we are _all_ prepared for what is to come."

"Seven lights," Mickey recalled. "Thirteen darknesses…"

"Precisely," said Yen Sid. "If Xehanort wishes to recreate the χ-blade, not only will he need thirteen vessels of darkness, but he will also need either the seven Princesses of Heart, or seven Keyblade Wielders. And as I have recently discovered, Kairi is the only individual that is a member of both of those groups."

"So that's one of the reasons that we're training her: either way, Xehanort is going to come for her?"

"Indeed."

At that moment, Yen Sid lifted his hand to his temple, a look of alarm on his face. "Something has happened," he said to Mickey. "Quickly, come with me to my chamber."

"What's wrong?" asked Mickey as the wizard opened the door to the tower.

"Something has happened to Sora."

The two of them climbed up the spiral staircase until they reached Yen Sid's study. From under the desk, the elderly Master took out a large crystal ball. An image quickly formed in the center, depicting Sora surrounded by several Nobodies.

"It is as I feared," said Yen Sid as he dismissed the image. "Xehanort has begun to make his move. We should not have let Sora leave this tower alone."

"What are we going to do?" asked Mickey.

"Obviously, one of us will have to go and assist him."

"I'll go!" offered Mickey almost immediately.

"I expected as much," said Yen Sid. "Do you still have your Star Shard?"

"I have it right here," said Mickey, holding it out in front of him.

"Excellent. We have no time to summon an alternative means of transportation, and this will get you there as fast as possible. Now go, and hurry!"

XXX

**Now**

"Alright," said Riku. "That's enough of that." They stopped sparring for a moment.

"How did I do?" asked Kairi cautiously.

"Overall, not bad," he responded. "But there's definitely room for improvement. You're often leaving yourself open to an enemy counterattack as you strike, so we'll definitely need to work on that, and maybe practice dodging as well."

"Okay," said Kairi. "So what's next?"

"Now, let's try some magic."

Riku walked over to the right side of the tower.

"Okay, so some enemies have strong defenses, but they're really weak when it comes to magic. What I want you to do now is to imagine that I'm a Heartless that's attacking – hold on, let me think - Donald!"

"What?!" shouted Donald. "Why do I have to be the victim here?"

"C'mon, Donald," said Goofy. "Don'tcha wanna help Kairi with her training?"

Donald stammered for a moment, before finally giving in. "Oh alright!"

Donald walked over to where Riku stood, grumbling.

"Now," said Riku. "I want you to imagine that Donald has been – "

He looked at Donald. "Could you try getting on your stomach?"

Donald, still grumbling, did so.

"Thanks. Now, Donald has just been knocked unconscious by a Heartless – or me, so to speak. You don't have time to close the distance between the two of you, and if you take too long, he'll get his heart stolen. So, in cases like this - "

"We use magic!" Kairi finished for him.

"Exactly! Now point your Keyblade at me. Good. It's important to remember that the power to use magic comes from deep within your heart. It's stronger for some than for others, so we'll see how you do in a moment. We'll start with a basic Fire spell. Try picturing a fire starting in your heart – non-lethally, mind you – then imagine it flowing up your arm, through the Keyblade, and out the end."

Kairi closed her eyes and pictured what Riku told her. As she did so, she felt something warm blossom in her heart. As it made its way up her arm, it got hotter and hotter, until it reached the Keyblade. A word began to form in her mind, and she opened her mouth…

"_Fire!_" she shouted, and with a roar, a large fireball was launched from the tip of her Keyblade, hurtling towards Riku and Donald.

"Whoa!" yelled Riku, as he instinctively leapt out of the way. Donald, however, was not able to move in time.

"Bwaaaah!" Donald cried out in pain, as the fire ignited the feathers on his rear end, before impacting on a nearby bush, causing it to burst into flame as well.

Donald jumped up and started to run around in a panic. "HELP, HEEEEELP, I'M ON FIRE!" he shouted with his plumage smoking behind him.

"Omigosh, Donald, I'm so sorry!" yelled Kairi, as she, Riku, and Goofy rushed forward to put it out.

"Don't blame yourself, it's my fault," said Riku. "I shouldn't have jump out of the way. It was a lot bigger than I thought it was –"

"Master Yen Sid's coming!" announced Goofy. The other three looked up and indeed saw the elderly wizard descending the stairs, eying them with amusement.

"Well," he said. "You four seemed to have caused quite the ruckus."

Riku and Kairi both started talking at once.

"I'm so sorry, sir!"

"I really didn't mean to!"

"I know I shouldn't have jumped out of the way!"

"It's my fault, I should have aimed higher!"

"Settle down, you two," Master Yen Sid interrupted. "I've come to expect this sort of thing from apprentices, especially when dealing with magic."

He snapped his fingers, and three walking brooms appeared armed with water buckets. Two of them went to put out the bushfire, while the third splashed Donald.

"_Gee_, thanks," grumbled the now soaking, if no longer on fire, duck.

"This isn't the worst I've ever had," continued the wizard. "Tell me, have you flooded the tower yet?"

"Well, no."

"Then I wouldn't worry too much. Al things considered, I _did _observe some very impressive magic from you, Kairi. Princesses of Heart tend to have a degree of latent magical powers, although few, if any, ever apply it, least of all in combat situations. And as far as I know, you're the first to wield a Keyblade in centuries. All that I ask is that the two of you be more careful during your training, understood?"

"Yes sir!" both of them said.

"Excellent. Now, hopefully, the King will return with Sora soon so that we may discuss our plans in full."

"Sora? Where is he?" asked Kairi.

"He was in Traverse Town, but with any luck, they should be arriving right about-"

Just then, a beam of light shot out of the sky like a shooting star. It touched down mere feet from the others, and then disappeared, only for Sora and Mickey to fly out and land face first on the ground.

"Welcome back," Yen Sid said to Mickey. "I would have thought that you would have gained control over that Shard by now."

"It's a lot tougher with more than one person," replied Mickey, dusting himself off as he got up.

"Sora!" the others cried out as they went over to him.

"Hey Donald, hey Goofy, hey Riku! Glad to be back!" Then Sora noticed Kairi standing next to him with a smile on her face. "Hi, Kairi," he said, noticeably blushing. "Um, how've you been?"

Kairi took hold of one of his hands. "I missed you."

Sora reached out and hugged her. "I've missed you too."

They sat there for a moment, just taking in each other's presence. While the others watched, not sure what to say, Mickey turned to Yen Sid.

"We've got trouble."

XXX

**Location: Unknown**

_Xehanort, Malfria, and Xigbar stood around the table, none of them saying a word. Xigbar was the first to speak up._

_ "I take it that capturing the kid was never the plan, huh?"_

_ "You are correct," Xehanort responded. "It was merely an attempt to determine the level of strength that he possessed after we had shattered his heart in the Realm of Sleep."_

_ "What he displayed was a good deal above our initial calculations," said Malfria. "I'm quite surprised that he is capable of thinking, let alone fighting. Someone must have repaired his heart from within."_

_ "Riku," Xehanort muttered._

_ "Is it that obvious?" asked Xigbar. _

_ "I suppose. Keep our 'normal' personnel on standby for now. I'd prefer to finish preparing the special units first."_

"_Of course," said Malfria. The three of them again lapsed into silence._

_ A silence that was quickly interrupted by the opening of a Dark Corridor._

_ "If you're done moping around," announced the thin man from the earlier meeting. "I was hoping that you would have actually have accomplished something."_

_ "You're our Chief Scientist," responded Malfria. "Stop badgering us, and work on your own damn plans."_

_ The Chief Scientist sneered. "I like to remind you that just last week you made a speech about how we're – what was it? 'All in this together'? God, it sounded like some high school assembly or something."_

_ "It wasn't a _speech_, said an exasperated Malfria. "It was advice that I gave to you, personally, on how you need learn to cooperate with the rest of us. Now what is it that you want?"_

_ The Chief Scientist reviewed his notes. "So far the project has been progressing nicely, but we've hit a wall as far as stabilizing the product goes. If we wish to continue, then I need either the notes of the project's original supervisor, or the man himself. Otherwise, anything that we can successfully produce will almost instantaneously dissolve into goo. Granted, non-sentient sludge almost perfectly describes our enemies, but-"_

_ "Enough," said Xehanort, and with that the Chief Scientist fell silent. "I'm afraid that we have other matters that need to be attended to before we can make any progress with that. We still don't have the other two in corporeal form at the moment, and without at least Number XIII, your project will still be unable to proceed."_

_ "Fortunately," Malfria told the Scientist, "we have a plan that, if all goes well, will not only dislodge Number XIII, but will also put us in a position to get what you want. If, that is, you would let us use the _other _project that you adore so much."_

_ "What?" he asked. "You mean the Red-"_

_ The Chief Scientist stopped talking for a moment, and then smiled. _

_ "That will work quite nicely, as long as you let me handle that bit."_

_ "I wouldn't have it any other way. Now then, this is the plan…"_

XXX

"Human soldiers?" asked Yen Sid.

They had all returned to the study to discuss the recent developments in Traverse Town.

"That's what they looked like," said Sora.

"What does this mean?" asked Kairi.

"I'm afraid I don't know," said Yen Sid. "We will have to investigate this matter further, but the fact that Xehanort has recruited normal people, willingly or otherwise, is…worrisome."

"So what are we going to do now, then?" asked Riku.

"We'll need to go to Radiant Garden and meet up with Leon and the others," said Mickey. "Lea's already there, so he should have explained the situation to them by now."

"Wait, who's Lea?" asked Kairi.

"Oh, he's the Somebody of Axel. You remember him, tall, spiky red hair?"

"Oh," said Kairi, raising an eyebrow. "You mean the one who _kidnapped _me?"

"Oh, right," said Sora. "But don't worry, he's good now! I mean, he was sort of good before, except for the whole kidnapping thing, of course. But now he's _really _good! And he has a Keyblade now!"

"Um, sure, alright. If you say so," said Kairi, clearly surprised by this sudden flood of information.

_See, this is what happens when you decide to stay at home, _said a voice inside her head. _You end up missing all of the good stuff!_

_ Shut up, Naminé_, Kairi thought back.

"Before you go," said Yen Sid, "I have something that you'll be needing."

With that, three fairies appeared, one dressed in red, one in green, and one in blue.

"Riku, Kairi," Yen Sid said. "I'd like to introduce you to Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather."

"Hello dears," said Flora. "We're so glad that we could finally meet you!"

"Wait, have you heard of us?" asked Kairi.

"Of course, dear," said Merryweather. "We knew that Sora had friends back where he came from, and now it turns out that not just one, but _both _of you can wield the Keyblade! It's simply wonderful!"

"So what is this all about?" asked Riku.

"Well," answered Fauna, "When Sora first visited this tower, we gave him special clothes that not only looked rather stylish, if you ask me, but also contained new powers. If you'll let us, we'll give the two of you some of your own."

"Alright then," said Riku. "Let's see what you've got."

"Very well, then," Merryweather said to him. "All together now, dears. Ready…go!"

The three fairies proceeded to work their magic on the two. Light began to fill the room, causing Sora to shield his eyes. When he opened them, he was quite surprised by what he saw.

Riku's clothes were mostly the same as before; a few extra pockets, a little less yellow, and most noticeably, the black and white on his jacket and vest had swapped places.

Kairi's, on the other hand, had undergone a dramatic transformation. Her mini-dress had turned a mixture of black and a deep shade of purple, her shoes were now black and white, and she now had on a pair of black and purple shorts with white straps. It looked very different from before, but Kairi seemed to like it.

"Huh, not bad," Kairi said as she observed herself in the mirror. "I've always liked purple."

"Those clothes aren't just for show," Fauna said. "They'll also help to access Drive Forms like Sora can."

"Take these," Yen Sid said, handing each of the three of them a glove with a small, clear, sphere-shaped gem on the back of it.

"What are they?'

"They are designed to helped channel the power of Drive Forms. In the past, Sora, you needed to merge with one or both of your partners to use this power. Now, however, if you focus your thoughts on those gems, you can activate it using only the innate strength of your own hearts. No longer must you sacrifice the strength of your comrades for your own power."

"You should know, however, that this power does still take time to recharge, and it is also split between the three of you," Merryweather added. "So if one of you, for example, uses Valor Form, then the other two won't be able to use that form until the first is finished."

"Give it a try!" urged Flora.

Sora, Riku and Kairi each focused on their gems. The gems began to glow as an image began to form in each of their minds: themselves, each of them in a different form. For the second time that day, a bright light enveloped the room.

When it cleared, the color of the three's clothes had changed. Sora's had turned red and been emblazoned with a fleur-de-lis, while he now held the Oathkeeper Keyblade in addition to the Kingdom Key: Valor Form. Kairi's had turned blue and now displayed a blue flame: Wisdom Form. And Riku's had turned yellow with saltires along the side of his pants, and the Oblivion Keyblade hovered in the air beside him: Master Form.

"These are only a few of the forms that you are able to use," Yen Sid said as Riku and Kairi examined themselves in alarm; Sora just grinned.

"But be warned," The wizard continued, "while this power is indeed great, you must be careful not to overuse it, as Sora well knows. A great darkness sleeps within it, and since its power itself has been copied from its effects on Sora's heart, should you use if too often or spread it too thin it may well be capable of overtaking you as well. It would slip in, cloud your mind, and infectyour heart. Yes, perhaps even with a heart of pure light," he said to Kairi, who nervously felt his gaze resting upon her. "This darkness stems from Sora's time as a Heartless, after all, as brief as it was."

The three of them returned to normal.

"So," asked Riku. "How do we plan on getting to Radiant Garden?"

Mickey held out his Star Shard. "We can use this!"

"Well alright," said Donald. "But just as long as it can take all of us."

"Don't worry," said Mickey. "It can. But it might be a bumpy ride."

"Be wary," said Yen Sid as the six of them placed their hands on the Star Shard. "If I am correct, Xehanort will have made many allies outside of his new Organization. They could be lurking anywhere."

"Don't worry, Master Yen Sid," said Goofy. "We'll be careful!"

"Alright, guys!" said Mickey. "We'll take off on three. One…two…"

"Wait," said Kairi, "Just how bumpy is this going to b-"

"Three!"

And with that, they disappeared in yet another burst of light. Yen Sid looked out the window to see a shooting star streaking through the skies above.

**To Be Continued**

**Okay, I know that I kind of, sort of promised that we'd be going to Radiant Garden in **_**this **_**chapter, but as I was writing it, I realized that this was going on pretty long already. Quite a bit happened in this chapter, though, so I think that it delivered on most counts. Though now that I think of it, we didn't really get much of a **_**fight **_**between Sora and Xigbar, now did we? Oh well, I think that there will be plenty of time for that later on. So without further ado:**

**Next Time:**

**Trouble in Radiant Garden (for real this time)!**

**Please feel free to review!**


	4. The Thief

**And we are back! Today we finally get to see Radiant Garden! It's been quite some time since Sora has been here! How long? Ehhh…a year, maybe? Sure, let's go with that! **

**So what's happened here since Kingdom Hearts II? Let's find out!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, The World Ends With You, any Disney movie or TV Show, etc.**

Chapter 3: The Thief

"So what you're saying is that Xehanort has returned?" asked Leon.

"And he's gathering up a new version of Organization XIII?" added Yuffie.

Lea blinked. "Yes," he said. "That's what I just finished telling you."

"Just making sure."

"Well, that's just great!" came a low grumble from the back of the room. The three of them turned around to see Cid lounging in the corner. "We just got done fixing this damn town, and now the Heartless are gonna come back and tear it all down again!"

"You said that there was something else?" asked Yuffie.

"Oh yeah," said Lea. "Well, why don't you all take a look at…THIS!"

Lea held out his hand, but…

"Nothing happened," Leon drily observed.

"I can _see _that," Lea said. "I'm still getting used to it. Okay, how…about…now!"

"Still nothing!" Yuffie said, grinning at Leon.

"Okay, let me think, how did it work before?"

"So, when will Sora and the others get here?" asked Leon, as Lea continued motioning with his hand for something to appear.

"I don't know, could be a while. All I know is that there's going to be trouble, so you'd better get the town ready. Damn it!" Lea shouted, as his hand continued to spectacularly fail to produce anything of substance.

"Yeah, about that," said Leon. "That might be a problem."

"Why's that?" asked Lea.

"Well, you see…"

A bright light flashed outside with a loud "Whoosh!" The others turned to look at the source.

"What the hell was that?" asked Cid.

"Oh, that must be them now," said Lea, still looking at his hand. "Come on, come on…"

They walked outside to find Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, Mickey and Kairi all lying in a heap, moaning.

"Well, that could have gone better," said Sora.

"A LOT better!" muttered Donald.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy!" shouted Yuffie, running over to them in excitement.

"Hey, Yuffie!" said Sora, as Lea and the others walked over to greet them as well.

"Good to have you back, Sora, Your Majesty," said Leon, nodding at them. Just then, Yuffie noticed who else had arrived.

"Kairi! We haven't seen you in ages!"

"Oh, hi Yuffie! Hi Leon, Cid." Kairi said sheepishly. _I don't even know them that well, but they're already acting like we're old friends, _she thought. She then saw Lea looking at her with mild surprise, and turned away from him.

"And I'm guessing that you're Riku, huh?" asked Cid, holding out a hand. "Sora's told us a lot about ya."

"Really?" said Riku, somewhat nervously as he shook Cid's hand. "How much?"

"Just that you've been lost for a long time, and he was looking for you," answered Leon. "Well, I'm glad that he finally found you."

"Yeah," said Riku. "I'm glad to." _Glad we don't have to talk too much about _that, he thought.

"It's great that you're here!" said Yuffie excitedly. "There've been a lot of Heartless showing up lately. But now that you've show up, we have a bona fide Keyblade Master to fight by our side!"

"Um, yeah, about that," said Sora, rubbing the back of his head in an embarrassed fashion. "_Technically, _I'm not a Keyblade Master."

"I'm sorry, WHAT?!" shouted Yuffie.

Leon raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"He didn't pass the exam," explained Mickey.

"You have to take an _exam_?" said Yuffie in disbelief. "I thought that you just had to take a Keyblade and whack Heartless with it!"

Kairi tapped Sora on the shoulder. He turned to look at her.

"You didn't tell me about this," she said with a worried look on her face.

"I'm sorry," he responded. "I-I didn't want to worry you. It wasn't just failing an exam. I-I nearly-"

"It's okay," Kairi said with a smile. "Whatever happened, I don't think you're ready to talk about it just yet. Maybe later, if you feel like it."

Sora grinned. "Thanks."

"No problem," Kairi said, and a smug look emerged on her face. "Actually, this makes us equals, doesn't it?"

"Not true!" Sora protested. "I have experience!"

"Does that really matter?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, fair enough," said Kairi with a shrug. "But either way, you have to admit that you are still, for all intents and purposes, an apprentice. Like me!"

"Alright then, who's our master?" challenged Sora.

"I guess either Riku or the King."

"Why me?" asked Riku in disbelief. "I mean, training practice, sure, but I can't be my own friends' master! It would be weird!"

"The King then."

"Gosh," said Mickey. "I'd be glad to help out, but I don't think I'm the sort of person to be someone's master, royal duties aside."

"Wait, hold up," said Leon. "Are you saying that all _three _of you have Keyblades?"

"Yeah," said Sora, as they all summoned their Keyblades. "They got them when we were fighting the Organization."

"See?" said Lea. "That's what I was trying to show you. I have a –" The Keyblade suddenly appeared in his hands. "-Keyblade. Huh."

Yuffie's eyes widened. "Wow," she said, unable to think of anything else to say.

"You've gotta be kidding me," muttered Cid. "What, is everyone and their mom getting a Keyblade?"

"Well, Xehanort has a Keyblade," offered Goofy.

Cid glared at him for a moment, then just sighed. "Guess we'd better start packing then. The town not gonna last a week. Not even with those assholes in charge."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" asked Sora.

"Well," began Leon, "as I was going to tell Axel-"

"It's LEA," Lea interrupted. "L-E-A. Got it memorized?"

"Right, sorry. As I was telling him before you guys showed up, the Restoration Committee, while originally in charge of the town during reconstruction, well, isn't."

"Isn't what?" asked Donald.

"We're not in charge anymore," said Yuffie.

"What? Then who is?" asked Goofy.

"We are."

Coming down the street was a small group of people. At the head of them was a young woman with pink hair holding a sword. Flanking her were a young man wearing a cowboy hat and holding a shotgun, and a young woman with dark hair with a lance fixed to her back. They walked over to where Sora and the others were.

"We heard that there was some sort of disturbance over here," said the pink-haired woman. "Of course, Heartless don't usually appear in bright flashes of light, so I didn't think that we had much to worry about. And I was right."

She looked at Sora. "So, I'm guessing that you're the Keyblade Master, huh?"

"Um, sort of," said Sora, finding her icy gaze uncomfortable. "Who are you?"

"Sora, everyone," Leon began, "this is Cl-"

"Lightning," the woman interrupted. "Sergeant Lightning Farron of the Radiant Garden Defense Corps. This is Irvine-"(the man with the cowboy hat gave a small wave) "-and Fang," (the dark-haired woman nodded slightly).

"What's the Radiant Garden Defense Corps?" asked Riku.

"A bunch of jerks with a too much money, guns, and time on their hands," answered Cid.

Yuffie elbowed him in the ribs. "Be polite," she whispered.

"We were formed," said Lightning. "To protect the town from those who seek to harm both it and its citizens. We've been active for about 8 months now."

"It's basically a military operation," added Yuffie.

"Garwsh, I thought that defending the town was the Restoration Committee's job," said Goofy.

"Not anymore," said Leon. "They no longer think that we're qualified."

"Hey now, don't go putting words in our mouths, Leon," said Irvine. "You guys _are _still defending the town. You're just now the only ones doing it anymore."

"I would have thought that you'd be glad for the extra help," said Fang, although with hint of sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"Now then," said Lightning, "have any of you got news for us? I was told that Lea was here, but I'm interested in hearing what _all _of you have to say."

Sora cleared his throat. "Well, you see…."

XXX

After they had finished explaining why they were there, Lightning turned to Leon.

"I think that this proves my point," she told him.

"But-"

"No. If what they say is true, then we _need_ to step up our defenses."

"You're turning this place into a _fortress_," said Leon, gritting his teeth.

"And the return of this Xehanort doesn't justify a fortress? An army of Heartless, Nobodies, and what sounded like _human soldiers _doesn't justify a fortress?"

"We were able to defend this town last year!"

"Barely! And even then, only with the help of two Keyblade Wielders! And may I remind you, I don't remember them being here when the town fell over ten years ago? We need to be able to stand by _ourselves_, Leonhart!"

"Hold on!" said Mickey. "Whose decision was this, anyway?"

"The governor's," said Fang.

"Due to the previous ruler of Radiant Garden, Ansem the Wise, having been declared missing, presumed dead; a governor has been selected, in accordance with the procedures established by Ansem himself," said Lightning.

_She sounds like she's was quoting some official statement_, thought Sora.

"Who's the governor?" asked Kairi.

"Gestahl," answered Irvine, with a hint of distaste in his voice.

"I don't trust him," said Cid.

Lightning hesitated. "I'll admit," she said, "he's not the first person that I would have picked for the job. But the council that was elected to choose the governor picked him, so I'm obligated to serve under him."

"You could always quit and work with us," retorted Yuffie.

"You? You're lucky that Gestahl still lets you operate separate from us," responded Lightning. "He could very well decide to merge you with the Corps, or even fire you, if Leon here keeps up his current attitude."

"So what sort of changes have you made around here?" asked Riku with interest.

"Well," said Lightning. "First, we started recruiting around the town. The three of us were part of the initial batch, and we made some real headway against the Heartless that started appearing after the Organization's defeat. That got a lot of people signing up."

"After that," said Irvine, "well, in addition to the town's regular defense system, we've built a wall around the town perimeter, since most of the really powerful Heartless tend to spawn outside of the populated area. We've got turrets lining the wall every, I don't know, fifty feet? The biggest additions, though, are the cannons we've gotten stationed on the nearby cliffs. We've got a half dozen of those bad boys, and they're all pointed at the sky."

"What, are you expecting an aerial assault _that _big?" asked Donald.

"Better to be safe than sorry," said Fang with a smirk.

"Look, I understand why you're worried," said Sora. "But I really don't think that all of this is necessary. We have more Keyblade Wielders than there were before, so we should have an easier time protecting the town, no matter what Xehanort throws at us, as long as anyone works together!"

"Oh really?" said Lightning as she turned towards him, her eyes burning with anger. "Then how about this? Every night, there are people who go out after dark alone, and they don't come back. They just vanish when no one's looking, and no one knows how or why. We've tried instituting a curfew, but that hasn't stopped the disappearances. Everyone's scared, and they've been pleading for us to do something, but how can we do _anything _when all of our investigations turn up _nothing_? If you have a solution, then please, I'd love to hear it."

No one said anything. Lightning turned to Irvine and Fang.

"General Leo's going to want us to report in soon. We'll tell him what happened here, then continue our patrol." She then turned to Sora. "Welcome aboard."

The three of them left, leaving the others to ponder what Lightning had said.

"Well, that's a bit of a downer," said Donald.

"Is it true what she said?" Kairi asked quietly. "Have people really been disappearing?"

"Afraid so," said Yuffie, who looked at Leon nervously. "It's the reason they decided to form the Defense Corps in the first place. We couldn't do anything about it."

"We'll figure it out," said Leon with a determined look. "Merlin and Cid have been working at it for a while now. Hopefully, with you guys around, we'll finally be able to work this out."

"You can count on us, Leon!" said Sora.

"Yeah!" chimed in Donald and Goofy.

"We'll do our best," added Riku.

"I'm new at this," said Kairi, "But I'm going to do what I can to help you too!"

XXX

"Well," said Cid. "I'll be heading back to the hangar now. Can't have those kids screwing up my latest pride and joy."

"Aw, don't sell your new assistants short like that!" said Yuffie. "They're really good for their age."

"Sure, they're fantastic," Cid grumbled. "But I keep telling them, a Gummi ship doesn't need a goddamn juice bar! That comes out of my wallet, you know!"

"Technically, it's the government's wallet," Leon said as Cid stormed off. "But you get the picture."

"So, what do we do now?" asked Riku.

"Well, there aren't any Heartless at the moment," said Leon. "So why doesn't Sora show you guys around the Central Square or something?"

"Great idea!" said Goofy.

"I'll stay here with Leon and Lea," said Mickey. "There are a couple of things that we need to talk about."

"Alright then," said Sora. "Let's go!"

And so the five of them set off, unaware that a good distance away, a hooded figure in a black coat was watching their every move.

XXX

"Here we are!" said Donald. They had arrived at Central Square.

"Garwsh, this place looks a lot better than when we were last here," said Goofy.

"I know," Sora responded. "I think it was still under construction then. They must have been working really hard!"

"Impressive, I'll admit," said Riku.

Kairi didn't say anything. She was struck by a sudden memory…

XXX

"_I just cast a magic spell on you." the blue-haired girl said. "One day when you're in trouble, the light within you will lead you to the light of another. Someone to keep you safe._"

XXX

"Kairi, are you alright?"

Kairi snapped out of her trance, and found Sora looking at her.

"I'm fine," she said. "I was just remembering something."

"Oh," said Sora. He was silent for a moment, then spoke up. "You used to live here, didn't you? With you grandmother?"

Kairi nodded. "I still don't remember most of it, but sometimes bits and pieces of it come back, ever since you freed my heart, well, here."

She looked around at Square. "It stopped the year you were gone, though. Everyone else forgot you. I… almost did, but I could remember how I felt about you, and I… I didn't want to forget anything else." She looked at Sora. "Let me see the lucky charm I gave you."

"Um, sure, okay," Sora said, not sure what to think. He reached into his pocket and handed it to her. She examined it closely, looking at the drawing of Sora's face.

"Do you know what these are called?"

"I don't think so."

"It's called a Wayfinder. I'll bet you can guess why. The Paopu fruit is said to link friends together, so people would model them after it, you know, for luck." Kairi grinned sheepishly. "At least, that's what Dad always told me." They both laughed a little, but then Kairi grew serious again.

"I've always wondered how people stay connected to each other from so far away. Because even when I didn't even know your name, I felt you, somewhere, out there. Was it because you had this? I don't think so. I think it's because of the bonds within our hearts; they're deeper than most people's. I know that sounds kind of arrogant, but I think it's true. That's how we stay connected." She looked at Sora. "And you, you're connected to a lot of people right now."

"How do you…"

"I can _feel_ it."

Now Sora was _definitely _not sure what to think. "Um, listen," he said to her. "Maybe if we stay here long enough, you'll remember more from back when you lived here."

Kairi looked hard at Sora, staring straight into his eyes.

_The light of another._

"Yeah…maybe."

XXX

_Three, two, one._

_ Contact._

Kairi smiled and held out the lucky charm. "Keep this safe, okay?"

At that moment, the cloaked figure rushed forward, knocking both of them to the ground. It leapt to the roof of a building on the opposite side of the square.

Sora struggled to his feet. "Hey, what's the big idea?!" shouted Sora.

"Sora," Kairi said. "She took it."

"How can you tell she's a sh-" Then Sora saw the figure on the roof dangling something a small chain. Something shaped like a star.

"What's going on?" Riku asked as he, Donald and Goofy hurried over to them.

"That woman! She stole my Wayfinder!" Kairi yelled.

"A THIEF?" Donald shouted. "Let's get her!"

"Hang on," Riku said. "We need a plan!" But the other four had already drawn their weapons and ran after the cloaked thief. Riku sighed and ran after them.

XXX

"So where are the others?" asked Lea.

"You mean the people you came with?" responded Leon. "Well, Lightning was reluctant to let them _anywhere_, but we managed to get them set up in the castle's laboratory. Are you sure that we can trust them?"

"I'm sure," said Lea. He turn to Mickey. "When we're finished here, we should go and see them. They might be able to give us a good idea what we're up against."

"Alright then," said Mickey. "Why don't we-"

CRASH!

There was a loud noise just outside. Yuffie came rushing in.

"Heartless!" she shouted.

They rushed outside. All around them, Heartless were swarming. Shadows and Soldiers were on the ground, while Air Soldiers and Surveillance Robots flew above them.

"This is bad!" said Leon. He turned to Yuffie. "Head to Merlin's house and get Cloud and Aerith, then find Sora and the others. We'll need to work together for this."

"Got it!" said Yuffie. Before she could head off though, she stopped and looked at Leon. "You do realize that _she'll _probably be there too, right?"

Leon hesitated. "It doesn't matter," he said, "just go!"

Yuffie nodded and leapt onto the rooftops, running for Merlin's house.

"We'll clear these guys out and head for the square," said Lea.

The other two nodded, and went to work.

XXX

_You've got one on your right, _said Roxas.

Sora blocked the lasers of a Surveillance Robot. _Yeah, I know_, he thought back.

_Just checking._

Passerby ran out of the way, screaming, as the five of them ran through the street, Heartless emerging in their wake.

Riku launched a ball of Dark Firaga at a Soldier, defeating it. "Where is this thief, anyway?"

"Over there!" Kairi pointed, and Sora could see a hooded figure leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

"Keep going!" shouted Donald. "We'll have her cornered soon!"

They continued to run down the street. Shadows emerged to block their path, but Kairi launched a barrage of Fire spells at them, and they burst into darkness.

"Good job!" shouted Goofy, as he bashed another with his shield.

"Hang on! I've got her!" shouted Sora. He jumped to the wall and kicked off. Performing Wall Kick after Wall Kick he managed to leap onto the roof in front of the fleeing thief.

"Gotcha!"

The thief leapt over him and down into the square below.

"Oh, come on!"

"Sora!" shouted Donald. "Get down here!"

Sora jumped down, and the five of them looked to see the thief standing in front of a large fountain with her back to them, in the middle of the square.

Kairi noticed the figure holding the Wayfinder with her hand over it. She could here faint mutterings and see a few strands of darkness surrounding the charm.

"What do you think you're doing!?" she shouted.

She and Sora ran forward. The thief turned to face them. Riku noticed that the coat that she was wearing looked very familiar.

"Is that a member of the new Organization?" asked Goofy.

"Could be," Riku said. "Keep your guard up."

Just then, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cloud ran into to the square from another entrance.

"Sora!" Aerith yelled, and Sora noticed that she had drawn a weapon that he hadn't seen her use before, a long wooden staff.

"That's far enough!" Riku shouted at the thief.

"Yeah, give back what you stole!" Sora added.

The figure regarded them curiously. She took out the Wayfinder and gestured towards it. "_Is this what you want?" _she seemed to ask.

"Yes, that," said Kairi, glaring at her.

The thief pocketed the charm. Under the hood, she smiled.

_Alright then._

She snapped her fingers. A circle of purple flames erupted around the fountain, cutting her, Sora and Kairi off from the others.

"Sora! Kairi!" shouted Riku.

"Um, Riku?" said Donald nervously, pointing behind them.

Riku turned around. Crawling down from the wall of a nearby house was a large, spider-like Heartless. It landed on the ground with a metallic CLANK. It bared its teeth and roared at them.

Inside the circle of flames, Sora and Kairi watched as the thief levitated to the top of the fountain. Her fingertips crackled with dark energy.

"_Showtime."_

**To Be Continued**

**Next Time: An Old Friend Returns!**

**Well now, I think that this might just get interesting.**

**Feel free to imagine Kairi's theme playing when she's talking with Sora, and Hollow Bastion's battle theme playing during the chase.**

**The first person to guess who Cid's new assistants are gets a free internet congratulations!**

**Feel free to review!**


	5. Split Up

**So, I saw **_**Frozen**_ **the other week. It was pretty good! Maybe I'll end up putting it in here; I guess we'll see. Of course, with Christmas coming up soon, my family and I will be traveling, so I doubt that I'll have time to update this for the next week or two, but we'll see! I'm more excited about the upcoming Doctor Who Christmas Special, which will be the last appearance of the Eleventh Doctor. Goodbye, Matt! We'll miss you! And good luck to Peter Capaldi!**

**Anyway…**

***Cracks knuckles, puts on "Shrouding Dark Cloud"***

**It's boss battle time!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, The World Ends With You, any Disney movie or TV Show, etc.**

Chapter 4: Split Up

Sora leapt aside as the thief shot a blast of darkness at him.

"Be careful!" he called out to Kairi. "She's obviously not some random pickpocket!"

Kairi nodded, and then shouted, "_Thunder_!"

Lightning bolts rained down from the sky, forcing the thief off the fountain, not wanting to risk electrocution via the water. As the lightning began to strike the ground around her, she raised her hand into the air. The lightning bent toward her, and flowed into her palm. She pointed at Kairi, and the lightning surged out at her.

"Look out!" Sora shouted.

Kairi quickly raised her Keyblade and blocked the incoming bolt. "Okay, let's not try that again," she said to herself.

Sora ran straight at the thief, making several wide swipes at her with his Keyblade. The thief dodged each blow, making no effort to counterattack. She just seemed to be silently observing him.

Meanwhile, Riku was having trouble with the giant Heartless. He had made several attempts to attack it, but its body was so heavily armored that his attacks did little, if any damage. Cloud, Aerith, and the others tried to help, but they fared little better.

"We're not even scratching it!" said Yuffie angrily.

Cloud looked around. His eyes were drawn to the Heartless' many segmented legs. "Those might be easier to handle," he observed. "They don't looked as heavily defended."

"Alright then," said Riku, who deftly avoided the Heartless' attempt to take a large bite out of him. He leapt to the side of the monster and began to attack its legs. The Heartless screeched in pain.

"It's working!" said Yuffie, but then she gasped. The Heartless, in retaliation for this exploitation of its weakness, rose up into the air. The legs began to detach from its body and float towards Riku and the others.

"It's like only of those Guard Armors!" shouted Donald.

One of the legs fired some sort of laser from its tip, hitting Yuffie square in the chest, and knocking her to the ground.

"Not exactly like that," she moaned.

Another laser shot at Donald, but Goofy intercepted it with his shield. A force-field surrounded the Heartless' main body, and it gave a roar of triumph.

Aerith ran over to Yuffie and cast Cure on her. She gazed silently at the floating laser-legs.

"I think…that those legs have some kind of connection with the main body," she said slowly. "If we can take them out, we might be able to knock it out of the sky."

"Works for me," Cloud said grimly. He leapt into the air and sliced through one of the legs. It vanished in a cloud of darkness as he landed. "One down."

"That leaves seven," said Yuffie.

Riku fired a burst of Dark Firaga at another, disintegrating it. "Six," he said with a smirk.

The laser-legs increased their firing speed. Yuffie, however, was ready for them this time. She ran towards one of them, dodged lasers as she did so, and threw several shuriken at it. They each impacted with a _thunk_, and this one disintegrated as well. "Five!"

"Alright, let's go!" said Donald. He raised his wand into the air, and cast Blizzard several times. The legs dodged most of them, but two were frozen solid. Goofy ran forward and smashed one of them with his shield, while Aerith struck the other with her staff, shattering it.

"That leaves three more," Aerith said.

Those three clustered together and began to rotate, energy gathering around them.

Riku's eyes widened in shock. "Everybody down!" he shouted, as a massive laser tore through the air. Everyone dove for cover as it impacted, creating a good-sized crater where they had been standing.

"Well," said Cloud, "how do you propose that we handle _that_?"

XXX

The thief leapt back on top of the fountain.

"How are we going to get her down from there?" asked Kairi.

Sora didn't have time to answer, as at that moment the thief unleashed a barrage of dark energy bolts. They both leapt aside, in opposite directions. Kairi tried to move back towards Sora, but more energy bolts flew in her path.

"Watch out!" Sora called. "I think she's trying to separate us!"

_Yeah_, said Naminé, _I was thinking the same thing._

_ Look, _said Kairi to her, _if you're going to say anything, could you at least try to give me a little help?_

_ Fine, _said Naminé. _For starters, I'd avoid getting too close to the fountain._

_ Why?_

At that moment, the thief leapt down and gestured at the fountain. The water rose up and rushed towards Kairi, engulfing her. Then the thief shot two blasts of Blizzard at the water, freezing Kairi in place from the neck down.

_That's why._

XXX

"Okay," said Riku. "I'll draw its fire. Once I have its attention, go for it."

He ran right in front of the joined laser-legs. The Heartless spotted him, and the legs began to gather energy again. As their combined laser fired, Riku formed a Dark Barrier around himself. The laser impacted at full force, and Riku struggled to keep it together.

"NOW!" he shouted.

Donald launched a barrage of Fire spells at the legs, damaging them. The legs could no longer hold their formation, and they broke apart. The laser ceased firing.

"It's working!" shouted Aerith. "Keep it up!"

Cloud rushed forward and sliced through each of the laser-legs.

"That's the last of 'em," said Yuffie.

With all of the legs destroyed, the force-field around the main body disappeared. The Heartless began to falter struggling to keep afloat.

"Now's our chance!" said Riku.

He held his Keyblade in front of him and rose up into the air.

_**Dark Aura**_

Riku held the Keyblade high over his head, then vanished. He reappeared next to the Heartless and slashed at it. After that he vanished again, then reappeared and attacked again. And again. After the third strike, the Heartless fell to the ground on its back, exposing a vulnerable underbelly.

"Your mine!" shouted Riku, and he dove down, plunged his Keyblade into the Heartless below. Columns of energy flared up around him, and there was a blinding explosion of light and darkness. Riku landed in front of the others, while behind him, a large heart floated up into the air.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," said Goofy.

"We're not out of the woods yet," said Riku. He turned to the wall of purple fire behind them.

"We have to help Sora and Kairi!"

XXX

"Kairi!" Sora cried out. He ran towards her frozen form, but the thief appeared in front of him.

"Be careful!" Kairi called to him.

The thief ran forward, launching a volley of dark magic at Sora. He managed to deflect the blasts, but she lunged forward, knocking him to the ground.

"Get off!" Sora shouted, trying to use his Keyblade. The thief would have none of that, however, and pinned his arm to the ground with her hand. She raised her other hand and cloaked it in darkness.

_ Open wide._

The thief plunged her hand into Sora's chest. Blinding pain shot through Sora's body, and even though she did no physical harm to him, he began to scream in agony. For a moment, he thought he saw her eyes glow yellow.

_**Let the prisoners of your heart go free! Let them throw off their shackles and come forth!**_

Sora felt as though a part of him was being torn from his body. He could here two, three, four voices screaming in unison, and another giving a cry of triumph.

_**LET THE DARKNESS CLEANSE YOUR SOUL AND PURGE YOUR HEART OF ALL OTHERS! EMBRACE THE DARK OR DIE CLINGING HOPELESSLY TO THE LIGHT LIKE THE COWARD YOU ARE!**_

His entire body was on fire. He couldn't even remember his own name.

**AS YOUR HEART BEGAN IN DARKNESS, SO TOO MUST IT END.**

XXX

Even though she couldn't see him, due to being encased in ice and thus unable to turn around, Kairi could still hear Sora's screams of pain.

_I have to help him, _she thought. _But what can I do? I can't even move! _She closed her eyes. _There's…nothing I can do._

_ Don't say that! _Urged Naminé. _You can do this. You have to._

Sora began to scream even louder. Kairi could sense darkness flowing from the thief into him. The whole square began to darken.

Kairi opened her eyes. _No. I won't let her hurt him any longer! _On her right hand, her Drive Gem began to glow blue.

Suddenly, a column of fire erupted from the ice, immediately melting it. The thief did not initially notice, being entirely focused on her task. That is, until several light projectiles slammed into her back. Their connection broken, Sora's screams ceased. The thief got up, and saw something that she had not been expecting.

Kairi's clothes had turned blue, adorned with several blue flames. While she had momentarily activated Wisdom Form at Yen Sid's tower, she had not fully tapped into its power. Now it coursed through her, the true potential of magic rushing into her brain. She floated in the air in front of the thief, and pointed her Keyblade at the thief.

"Hi!" she said with a smile, although any perceived notion of friendliness would vanish if you saw her eyes. "I don't think that we properly introduced ourselves. I'm Kairi. You?"

The thief did not answer, instead drawing back towards the fountain.

"No? Well okay!" Kairi said as she continued to float towards her. "Then why don't we skip straight to business. I want you to return what you stole from us, fix whatever you did to Sora, and then leave," Kairi frowned. "And don't come back."

"_No."_

With that, the thief attacked, launching several blasts of darkness at her. Kairi raised a shield of light, and they deflected harmlessly off it.

"Have it your way," she said, and fired several powered-up Fire spells at her. Most of them the thief dodged, but one she was forced to block, and was knocked back several feet.

Kairi flew after the thief, launching several more light projectiles. The thief disappeared in a cloud of darkness, then reappeared behind her and shot a stream of lightning at her. Kairi dodged it, rose up into the air, and aimed her Keyblade at the thief. An orb of light appeared at the end of it.

_**Ragnarok**_

Several streams of life burst from the orb, homing in on the thief. They struck home, and the thief was thrown to the ground by the impact.

Kairi let out the breath that she had been holding for the last several seconds. "I wasn't sure if that would work," she said as she landed back on the ground. "But at least I managed to save him."

At that moment, however, the Drive Gem chose that moment to wear off. Kairi's clothes changed from blue back to purple, and Wisdom Form's power faded.

At the same time, the thief rose back to her feet, as if something had pushed her up by the back. She glared at Kairi, and crossed her arms in front of her chest. The wind seemed to gather around her.

_Oh crap_, both Kairi and Naminé thought.

The thief thrust her arms out. "_Dark Aeroga!_" she yelled.

The air roared as a wave of black wind struck Kairi. She tried to maintain her footing, but the wind picked her up her feet and threw her across the square. She slammed into the wall of a nearby building and slid to the ground, fighting to stay conscious.

The wall of flames vanished, and Riku and the others ran forward.

"Sora!" shouted Yuffie.

She and Cloud ran forward. The thief noticed them, and threw a blast of darkness, colored black with a hint of red, at each of them. They were both knocked to the ground, unconscious.

Several Armored Knights Heartless appeared in front of Riku, blocking his approach. The thief began to walk toward Kairi, dark energy forming in the palms of her hands.

_I'm not going to make it in time! _Riku thought in desperation.

But at that moment…

"_BURN, BABY!_'

With a roar, another wall of fire, this one red and yellow, appeared in the thief's path. She turned around to see Lea, Mickey and Leon standing on a nearby rooftop.

Lea leapt to the ground, wielding his Keyblade. "I never get tired of saying that," he said with a grin.

From a nearby street, soldiers began to pour into the street, led by Lightning and a tall, dark-skinned man.

"Oh great," said Leon, "They're out in force."

"Hold it," said the man to the thief. "I am General Leo of the Radiant Garden Defense Corps. Surrender now and you will not be harmed."

The thief tensed up. Then, before anyone could react, she grabbed Donald and leapt to the other side of the square.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" asked Donald. The thief said nothing, but placed a hand crackling with electricity near his head. Donald gulped. The message was clear.

General Leo glared at the thief. The soldiers pointed their weapons at her. Behind the thief, a Corridor of Darkness appeared.

_I will not show my hand. Not yet._

"Stand down," the General told the soldiers.

"Sir," said Lightning, "It could be a bluff."

"I'm not going to risk it. Lower your weapons." The soldiers did so.

The thief turned to Riku. Taking out the Wayfinder, she tossed it to him, and he caught it with surprise.

"I have no further need of your trinket. It has served its purpose."

She then lifted Donald up and threw him at Goofy.

"Whoa!" cried Goofy as they were both knocked to the ground.

With that, the thief leapt into the Corridor. It closed behind her.

As Aerith ran towards Sora, Riku surveyed the chaos. He then asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"What was that all about?"

XXX

"Hey, are you alright?"

Kairi opened her eyes. She was still seeing stars after being thrown into the wall, but she was finally managing to come to her senses.

Looking down at her was a young woman with black hair, wearing a sleeveless blue sweater over a black tank-top.

She smiled down at Kairi. "Hi," she said. "I'm Rinoa."

She held out a hand. Kairi took it, and Rinoa helped her to her feet.

"I'm Kairi."

"You took quite a beating there, Kairi."

"I know," Kairi said, trying to clear her head. Suddenly she remembered something.

"Sora!" she shouted. She ran over to the fountain, with Rinoa following her.

Sora was lying on his back, holding his hand over his chest, his face twisted in pain. Aerith and Riku were bent over him.

"He's in bad shape," Aerith told her. "We need to get him some help _now_."

"We can take him to Merlin's," said Leon, picking Sora up. "It's not far from here."

"Okay," Aerith replied. She turned to Kairi, who saw that she was wearing a red jacket over the dress that she had last seen her in.

Yuffie and Cloud walked over, having already recovered from the thief's attack.

"We'd better hurry," Yuffie said, pointing at Lightning. "Miss Stick-In-the-Mud's looking at us funny."

Lightning was indeed glaring at them, and looked as though she was going to try to stop them.

"Alright," said Riku, "let's get going."

XXX

"Well," said Merlin, examining Sora carefully, "he appears not to be in any further danger."

They were all gathered in Merlin's house. Sora was lying in a bed, still unconscious. Kairi, Riku, Donald, Goofy and Mickey were gathered around him; while Aerith was standing over him, regularly casting Cure spells. Lea, Yuffie and Rinoa stood nearby, while Cloud and Leon were by the door.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Goofy.

"That woman, whoever she was, tried to extract something from his heart," Merlin explained. "Quite violently, I might add."

"If that's the case," said Aerith. "I don't think she succeeded, at least not fully. Something seems to be…dislodged."

"Recovery shouldn't take long," said Merlin. "I would, however, advise that he not over-exert himself for a while."

"Knowing Sora, I doubt he'll agree to that," Riku commented with a grin.

Rinoa turned to Leon. "Do you think he'll be alright, Squall?"

Leon didn't say anything to her. Behind his back, Yuffie glared at him.

Kairi looked at Sora. She noticed that his eyelids were fluttering.

"Is he waking up?" asked Donald.

"No," Kairi responded. "I think he's dreaming."

"About what?"

"Who knows?"

XXX

**Sora's Dream**

_"You know, we have a lot in common, the two of us," said the black haired girl. "Aside from the obvious."_

_ "Yeah," said Sora absentmindedly._

_ They were sitting on the crooked palm tree, the one where he usually sat with Riku and Kairi. The girl was staring into the sunset, and would occasionally throw a rock into the ocean._

_ "I mean, my friends forgot me, and yours forgot you. I guess we're not all that important, huh?" she said._

_ "I guess."_

_ "Then again," she said, chucking another rock in, "if they didn't forget me, _nobody _would've _ever _remembered you. Even that girl you like would have forgotten eventually."_

_ She turned to him and smiled. "You totally owe me." She stood up. "So do you think that you'll be able to help?"_

_ "Sure," he said. Then he was suddenly aware of himself. _

"_Wait, who are you?" he asked. He turned to face the girl, but she had vanished._

_Suddenly, Sora began to sink into the ground. The Islands began to disappear, and soon he was falling in darkness. As he fell, he looked around, and for a moment, he thought that he saw himself falling in front of him, giving him a sinister smile. But then he blinked, and the other him was gone._

_Eventually, he landed, as usual, on a stain glass platform. Depicted on it was a sleeping image of himself. Bordering the image were pictures of people he knew. Kairi, Riku, Donald, Goofy, Mickey, Roxas, Naminé, Lea. Also included were people he didn't quite recognize, but felt very familiar. There was the girl he had been dreaming about, and a boy who looked like Roxas, although Sora could tell it wasn't him. There was a woman that Sora was sure that he had met before, and a man that looked extremely familiar, almost like he had met him many times. Most striking, however, was a shadow in the background, resembling that of a young woman. Sora couldn't make out her features, but could see that she was facing the opposite direction that his image was._

_A voice echoed through the darkness._

_**This will the last time that we will speak here. There is little to tell you that you do not already know. But the coming trials will be perhaps the ultimate test of your heart.**_

_ A shadow rose up from the ground, formless, in front of Sora. _

_**Your heart has been connected to yet another's, for good or for ill.**_

_The shadow split into six, which surrounded him and took on human-like shapes, each different from the others._

_**Beware these that you see before you, those who long ago embraced the darkness in their hearts. For they are the dark mirror through which you may see yourself.**_

_All of the figures vanished except for one, which transformed into a shadow version of Sora. It regarded him briefly, and then disappeared._

_**A great conflict is approaching. I will ask you once more. **_

_Suddenly the darkness disappeared, and the scene dissolved and reformed. Sora was now standing on the shore of the Island. Facing him were younger versions of Riku, Kairi and himself; the same age as they were when he had first obtained the Keyblade._

_**What are you afraid of? **__asked the image of Riku._

_ Sora thought for a moment. _Now? _he thought. _So much has changed. _"Failing when it matters most," he decided eventually._

_ The younger Riku nodded, and then dissolved into sand. Suddenly, the images of Sora and Kairi grew older, to the age they had been during the fight with the Organization._

_ His own image turned to him, and for a moment it looked like the boy depicted on the platform; the one that looked like Roxas._

_**What do you want in life? **__asked the Sora image._

_ "To bring help to people who need it," Sora said without hesitation._

_ Without a word, the Sora image faded, melting into the air._

_ The image of Kairi turned around, and motioned for Sora to follow her. They walked into the water until they were knee-deep, then she turned to face him. Sora watched as silver and purple armor appeared on her. In her hand was the Oathkeeper Keyblade. Her face looked tired, as if she had seen things that she didn't want to remember._

_**What is the most important thing to you?**_

_Sora stared at the ground, deep in thought. Everything had changed; could he really trust himself to answer this?_

_ But even after all that had happened, some things never really do change._

_ Sora raised his head. Looking straight at Kairi, he said, "My friends – no, everyone who's connected to my heart."_

_ Kairi gave him a sad smile. __**Do not forget that.**_

_Suddenly, an enormous wave appeared behind her. It rushed towards them at a blinding speed, and Sora could only watch as crashed down on them._

_ The image of Kairi vanished from sight as he sank down into the depths of the ocean. A searing pain suddenly rushed through his head, and he clutched it in shock…_

He was in The World That Never Was, dueling Riku in front of Memory's Skyscraper.

No, he was in Twilight Town, dying in Roxas' arms.

No, he was in an arid desert, while an old man and a masked boy walked towards him and two others in the middle of a field of Keyblades.

_**And do not forget…**_

_The shadows surrounded him, impenetrable._

_**No matter how far you go, no matter how lost you might be…**_

_There was a distant glimmer of light…_

_**You will never truly be alone.**_

XXX

**Merlin's House, the Real World**

"So what was she using my lucky charm for?" asked Kairi.

Merlin studied it closely. "It would seem that she was using this as a representation of your bond with Sora," he said, handing the Wayfinder back to her. "Through it, she would have been able to access your heart as well as Sora's."

Kairi stared. "Are you saying that she was going to do to me what she did to Sora?"

"It would appear so."

Suddenly there was a commotion at the door.

"Out of the way, you two!" a man said with an impatient voice. "If the Keyblade Master is injured, then I must see him at once."

Bustling past Leon and Cloud was a man with long blond hair and wearing a lab coat.

"Ah yes, here he is," he said as he approached Sora's bed.

Riku's eyes widened as he recognized the man. "You!" he cried, summoning his Keyblade.

"Yes, hello Riku," said the man without looking up. "I'm afraid that I cannot chat now. If my hypothesis is correct, then your friend will shortly be in great peril."

"Riku, put that away," said Lea. "He's with us."

Riku raised an eyebrow. "You mean…"

"Yes. Everyone, this is Even, formerly Vexen, a founding member of Organization XIII. Who, to be honest, I'm surprised is up and about."

"I'm a faster healer than you thought. And that period, while ethically unsound, was a bounty of scientific knowledge," said Even, who now had his ear over Sora's heart. "And that knowledge will be crucial in about two minutes."

"Really? How's that?" asked Kairi, who motioned for Riku to dismiss his Keyblade, which he did, with some reluctance.

"The woman that attacked Sora, whoever she was, has affected Sora's heart in a way that I had previously thought impossible, but upon further consideration, I now believe entirely otherwise."

"Right," said Aerith. "We noticed that she seemed to have dislodged something."

"It's more than that!" Even shouted impatiently. "There are several hearts inside of his body, and one's connection has just been severed! If we don't act fast, the damage to his will be catastr-!"

He didn't have time to finish, because at that moment, Sora eye's fluttered open, and he sat up in the bed. "Hey guys," he said. "Why's everyone looking at me like that?"

"Do ya feel alright?" asked Mickey.

"Yeah, I feel fine. What's wrong?"

"This isn't right," muttered Even. "At this point, you shouldn't be able to wake up. Could it be that I was mistaken? Or has the process been delayed someh-?"

Suddenly, a blast of light filled the room. Once it had dissipated, everyone stared in shock at the blond-haired boy suddenly sprawled on the floor.

"You've _got _to be kidding me," Lea said in disbelief. "This isn't possible."

"What's going on?" asked the boy as he struggled to his feet. "Axel, is that you?"

"_ROXAS?!_"

**To Be Continued**

**Next Time:**

**"Aren't You a Little Young to be Building Gummi Ships?"**

**Please review!**


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